The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for reinforcing an information handling system chassis.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option is an information handling system. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements may vary between different applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Some information handling systems are housed in a chassis and may be mounted in racks for storage and/or use. As computing needs continue to grow, the information handling system components housed in the chassis increase in weight, size, and number, which leads to issues with respect to the chassis.
As additional and heavier components are housed in the chassis, the component support surface may begin to sag or bow from the weight of the components, causing the component support surface to deflect from a planar orientation to a bowed orientation. It is desirable to minimize the amount of space taken up by a chassis in the rack in order to mount as many information handling systems in the rack as possible, and the deflection of the component support surface to the bowed orientation may cause the chassis to deflect into space in the rack that is meant to be used by other chassis. Furthermore, the deflection of the component support surface to the bowed orientation creates a perception of low quality due to the systems sagging or bowed appearance.
Typically, the deflection of the component support surface to the bowed orientation is dealt with by stiffening the component support surface by fabricating a thicker component support surface. This is undesirable due to the need to minimize the space taken up in the rack by the chassis and the additional costs incurred in fabricating the thicker component support surface.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a method and apparatus for reinforcing a chassis absent the disadvantages found in the prior methods discussed above.